Mariners must mount mound campaign soon

The Seattle Mariners have made a big splash in the free-agent market by rebuilding their offense, but they have yet to wade into the pitching pool. Most of the big names available this winter have already found a home for the 2005 season. While there are a few pitchers out there who would qualify as top of the rotation types – most notably Kevin Millwood and Eric Milton – there aren’t many remaining.

The Mariners lost out on the Carl Pavano sweepstakes and they were never in the running for Pedro Martinez. On Wednesday, the Boston Red Sox signed Wade Miller to an incentive-filled one-year deal to take another starter off the market.

Reportedly, the object of the Mariners’ desire is left-handed starter Odalis Perez. Perez, who was 7-6 with a 3.25 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, is also said to be talking with the Washington Nationals.

While Perez probably won’t command a contract similar to Millwood or Milton, he compares favorably to them. His career ERA of 4.00 is better than Milton’s 4.76 and just higher than Millwood’s 3.89.

He also comes without the health risk. At 27, he’s two years younger than Millwood and Milton and has made at least 30 starts in each of the last three seasons. In 2002, Perez went 15-10 to earn a berth on the National League All-Star team, and his 3.00 ERA was fourth-best in the league.

Millwood was limited to 141 innings last season with the Philadelphia Phillies because of a bothersome right elbow. Milton, a left-hander, threw 201 innings last year for the Phillies after missing almost all of the 2003 season because of knee surgery.

A Florida newspaper has reported that Milton’s talking with the Marlins.

Working for the Mariners is their signing of third baseman Adrian Beltre, who played with Perez the last three years in Los Angeles. Both are from the Dominican Republic.

As promising as that sounds, there are reports out of Washington, D.C., that claim Perez may sign with the Nationals even if the Mariners’ offer is more lucrative. Perez has spent his six-year career in the National League and Washington, D.C., is closer to his home in Las Matas de Farfan in the Dominican Republic.

Should the Mariners fail to land Perez, the pickings are really slim. The healthiest and youngest of the bunch are two former Mariners farmhands, Derek Lowe and Shawn Estes.

Lowe, who was traded to Boston along with catcher Jason Varitek in the infamous deal for Heathcliff Slocumb in 1997, had one of the worst seasons of his career. The 31-year-old right hander went 14-12 with a 5.42 ERA, marking the third season in a row that his ERA rose while his win total fell.

Estes, 31, went 15-8 with 5.84 ERA last year with the Colorado Rockies. It was the most wins the lefty’s had since winning 15 with San Francisco in 2000.